Monday, 31 October 2011

[QUOTE=Bossland;338903]On Tuesday August 9 2011, we went to Berlin and met our lawyers, Dr. Behrmann & Härtel, who are game law specialists. The meeting went very well. It took several hours to go though the case against us and to get advice as to the strengths and weakness of each point they brought up. Having done so, we are a lot happier now than while we were sitting about waiting for the legal papers to come from Hamburg .
Unlike in the US, court papers in Germany are not all for publication so we are not attaching a PDF of the 111 page letter Blizzard sent to the Hamburg court.

Blizzard has tried to tack on a personal liability action. Bossland has been served with papers on this. In German law, if you are a company director and using the company to do something you know to be against the law, you cannot hide behind the company.

The interesting part will start once Blizzard replies to our defense, as they have then to prove the squishy allegations. So there will not really be any real news until November.[/QUOTE]

Well they have already taken out Glider and I am sure that they will use some of the same
tactics with you as they did with MDY Industries.

May be a good idea to ensure your lawyer reviews these documents for
MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc,

Their alligations are not that "squishy" as you may claim I would
take this very seriously. Since MDY Industries lost their case
and you could be in the same situation as MDY Industries.

It took Blizzard no time at all to run right over MDY Industries
and set president for any future cases such as yours.

And if you think that because you are in Germany that you are safe
you are wrong under the Berne Convention which Germany is a part of
under the World Itellectual Property Organization.

On Tuesday August 9 2011, we went to Berlin and met our lawyers, Dr. Behrmann & Härtel, who are game law specialists. The meeting went very well. It took several hours to go though the case against us and to get advice as to the strengths and weakness of each point they brought up. Having done so, we are a lot happier now than while we were sitting about waiting for the legal papers to come from Hamburg .
Unlike in the US, court papers in Germany are not all for publication so we are not attaching a PDF of the 111 page letter Blizzard sent to the Hamburg court.

Blizzard has tried to tack on a personal liability action. Bossland has been served with papers on this. In German law, if you are a company director and using the company to do something you know to be against the law, you cannot hide behind the company.

The interesting part will start once Blizzard replies to our defense, as they have then to prove the squishy allegations. So there will not really be any real news until November.

Aphel: So, let’s start with some basic questions. Just to clear everything up, what is your official job title and position at Bossland GmbH?

Hawker: Development Director. If technical stuff fails, it’s my fault. If it works, the team of devs, Apoc, Nesox, Raphus and Main are all getting the credit. Most of my time now is spent on Rift, as that is proving to be a very hard game to get a safe, stable bot in. Gatherbuddy was my first product and Honorbuddy is our pride and joy really. It quests, PvPs, raids, and it’s like having a person to play for you while you sleep. Glider with Ppather was aiming to get there when they were closed down under the US Digital Millenium Copyright Act, and I feel lucky we’ve had the chance to get it all working.

Aphel: It really is a great piece of work. I’ve had the chance to use both Honorbuddy and Gatherbuddy, and I was absolutely impressed with how well it was able to get me through levels 1-80 on one of my alt accounts. Phenomenal program.
Hawker: Thanks.

Aphel: Absolutely! So, our readers are really interested to hear about the initial announcement. What were the logistics behind it? Did you guys get an email, a phone call, or so on? And better yet, how was the rest of the team notified? How was the general feeling of the entire announcement afterwards?

Hawker: About a month ago, Blizzard’s legal guy, Rod Rigole, came to our office in Germany and had some papers he wanted Bossland to sign. The papers were in English and referred to California law. So Bossland said, “Wait a second. Let’s meet my lawyer and see what he says.” and the lawyer said, “This is Germany and these documents are not appropriate.”

Hawker: [Rod Rigole] left, saying [he] would be back, and we heard no more until last Friday when a mutual contact said, “You have been sued by Blizzard.” Then we phoned the court and found something has been filed in Hamburg. It’s like someone coming to see you in Florida and then suing you in Michigan. Very strange that they didn’t write to us first, but we’ve had the lawyer ready since 2009.

Aphel: It’s always good to have one around.

Hawker: It helps that none of this is a shock and that we have our stuff all done legally and documented clearly. We needed to stop selling the Buddy Lifetime product, as that could be considered misleading or unfair [to our customers]. So we organized a meeting on Skype, told the guys what was happening, and then we changed our website.

Aphel: It sounds like you’ve already built a powerful defense against Blizzard.

Hawker: It’s a very strong defense in that it is common sense. We are doing something legal and paying our taxes. Why would someone have the right to come along and tell us to stop?

Aphel: Absolutely. It does seem to be a reflection of the times and of corporate power in the United States when Blizzard can start up these international suits on a whim.

Hawker: Yes. Blizzard is a great company and makes superb products. We like that, but it’s a pain that they have such deep pockets for legal action. Thankfully, litigation in Germany is less expensive than the US or UK where a rich enemy can bankrupt you with legal fees.

Aphel: Just to clear everything up with current Honorbuddy customers, will Buddy Lifetime customers still keep their current account with no need to renew it?

Hawker: Absolutely.

Aphel: Excellent. I’m sure you notified them and so on, but we just like to let everyone know.

Hawker: The process will take years, but we’re hoping to be selling Lifetime again after it's done. It’s just that until we see what they are throwing at us and see how seriously the courts take them, we have to be fair and only sell a fixed term.

Aphel: That’s the best thing to do. Do you have any idea how the developers will be involved in the case, or who Blizzard is suing in specific?
Hawker: It is limited to action against the company and against Bossland personally.

Aphel: Do you think the suit will have negative consequences regarding the speed of Honorbuddy/Gatherbuddy development and updates?

Hawker: No. The product is essentially done now, and we are working on small bug fixes. There are many moving parts to Honorboddy as lots of people make their own combat routines or even their own bots using Honorbuddy interface to WoW. It is often hard to tell where an error has arisen, so we want to make that a lot easier to debug for outside developers. There are intermittent bugs in the base that come up, and we try to fix these as well.

Aphel: User customization seems to contribute to the fact that Honorbuddy still remains undetected by Blzzard’s proprietary warden anti-***** software. We’ve seen the rise and fall of many bots over time, and it seems like Blizzard turns to the courts when they cannot counter a well-coded hack or bot. Do you think that they’re doing this only because they cannot crush your company’s program like they’ve done with so many other professional teams?

Hawker: No, that’s not the case. They have not tried to detect us. Our Tripwire has been idle apart from the week it was installed and then found Blizzard had already stumbled upon us while looking for a LUA hack.

Hawker: My opinion is that Blizzard prefers the legal approach, as it allows them to keep their subscribers yet it also allows them to erase the things that they don’t approve of.

Aphel: That’s a great observation. It wouldn’t really be in their best interest to cut out hundreds of thousands of customers. They’d rather eliminate the source.

Hawker: Of course, it is harder for them to detect us compared to some badly-coded bots. We do have a very nice way to connect the program to WoW without ever troubling Warden.

Aphel: Absolutely. Some people complain that bots ruin the game for other players, but I like to think of it as a way for casual to compete with players who don’t have families of jobs to distract them from the game. In addition, they argue that the items gained from farming bots like Gatherbuddy can ruin the server economy, but it also brings in items that players wouldn’t otherwise be farming. When the item is in greater supply, the overall price should theoretically drop because it is in lesser demand.

Aphel: I think Honorbuddy and Gatherbuddy add a whole new dynamic to WoW, and it’s been interesting to see how they interact with the game.

Aphel: As for one final question, are any of the employees’ personal lives taking a toll from the lawsuit?

Hawker: I think it is fair to say we know this was coming, and we have chosen Germany as our base, as it is a good legal environment for us. Some of the team may be worried, but this is the game we chose to play. It’s not like bot-making is ever a boring way to make a living. Our lawyer says not to worry, and that’s good enough for us.

Aphel: That’s great to hear! We look forward to seeing the outcome of this monumental case. Thanks for giving us some great answers.

Aphel: One more thing. Do you have any final statements to the MMOwned community and to our readers?

Hawker: The MMOwned community has been a great source of moral support—thanks—we do appreciate it.

Blizzard Has Sued Us

On Monday July 11 2011, Blizzard filed a lawsuit against us in Hamburg, Germany. We set up this firm in Germany on the basis that we are pursuing a legitimate business opportunity in a lawful manner under German law. Our lawyer advises us that is still the case. We will carry on providing the products that you have purchased. Honorbuddy and Gatherbuddy will carry on working. However, we will make a change for new orders and and we will be asking for your support.

To prevent any risk of misleading potential customers, we will no longer be selling Buddy Lifetime. We are moving to a keys system that enables you to buy for 1 day, one month or 1 year and you get a discount for taking more than 1 session. We are no longer charging for use of flying mounts - if you have an existing HB key, flying mounts are now supported for free.

Over the next few years, you will be seeing a lot of stories in the media about this case so we hope this announcement hopes to clear up any concerns. We hope we can count on your support.